Thursday, October 29, 2015

Friday morning (tomorrow) yoga will meet in the library
Resource Room at 10:30 for relaxation exercises and a discussion of the instructor's recent
experience at Gampo Abbey Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia.

There will be a walking meditation Sunday November 1st at the river. Please reply to patriciagagne@comcast.net if you are interested in participating and want more information.

If you or someone you know is interested in
serving as a Tax Aide Volunteer February 1-April 1, 2016 at the Ocee Library,
please contact AARP directly to complete their volunteer program (http://www.aarp.org/giving-back/). Volunteers must
complete training in a self-study format and then participate in a mandatory 4
day class in third week of January.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

On the fourth Saturday in October, millions of volunteers around the world unite in a common mission to improve the lives of others. Celebrate the power of people to make a difference.

You can make a difference any day at Ocee. Did you know that Ocee has the largest number of checks out in the AFPL system? Add a little extra time to our library visits and help shelve books. Maybe you have a craft, skill, or knowledge to share as a program? Perhaps you can tutor? Click the Volunteer tab above for more information.

The meeting room at Ocee is currently being used for voting. While some programs can be moved, unfortunately, some programs must be cancelled. Before you make the drive, you may care to phone the library at (770) 360-8897 to confirm whether your program is scheduled - or not.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Since the meeting room is being used for voting, there will be no
Sunday class until 8 November.

The Yoga for Life class will meet in
the small community room (near the children's section) October 23 and October 30 until after the
election. The instructor says, "I plan to share my experiences at the Bhuddist monastery in
Nova Scotia at the class this Friday so come if you are interested!"

Monday, October 12, 2015

Beginning Monday 19 October, early voting will take place at Ocee library. The meeting room will not be available from 16 October - 3 November. Please contact Ocee library (770-360-8897 ) regarding library program schedules for this time period.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Here's some helpful information from YourSightMatters as we move into cooler days (ie:'reading weather').

Eyestrain is not harmful to the eyes and often goes away once your eyes are rested. However, sometimes eye strain can be a sign of an undiagnosed eye condition. These are the most common symptoms of eyestrain:

Blurred or double vision

Watery eyes

Dry eyes

Soreness, tiredness, burning or itching

Headache

Increased sensitivity to light

Difficulty focusing

You should make an appointment with your eye doctor if you have persistent double vision, experience pain or have a noticeable change in your vision.

How can you prevent putting excess strain on your eyes as you feast on a good book? Here are a few tips to help:

When reading, have a light source behind you so that light is being directed onto the page. If you are reading at a desk, use a lamp with a shade. The shade will prevent the light from shining into your eyes.

If you have reduced vision, use a brighter light source.

Consider a large-print book if words appear too small on the page.

Take regular breaks. Follow the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look away from your book and look at an object 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. Walk around for a while and give your eyes a rest.

Blink often to moisten your eyes. Dry eye can result when staring at an object for too long.

World Sight Day (WSD) is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. World Sight Day 2015 is on 8 October 2015.

For those who have difficulty reading due to visual impairment, AFPLS has a large print book collection and audio books.

Atlanta Center for the Visually Impaired serves some 5000 Georgians a year! They believe "Every person with vision loss should be able to live with independence and dignity." CVI is a fully accredited private facility providing rehabilitation services for the blind and visually impaired."

from International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

Approximately 285 million people worldwide live with low vision and blindness

Of these, 39 million people are blind and 246 million have moderate or severe visual impairment

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Blogger mom, Amanda wonders 'in today’s world of smartphones and tablets, of on-demand information and bookstores large enough to get lost in, do local libraries still have a place? If we want to raise independent, creative and freethinking children, they most certainly do.'

Reading between the lines: the benefits of reading for pleasure (Billington, 2015) indicated the positive impact regular reading for pleasure has on health and well being and how it reduces isolation. The key findings include:

half of readers say that reading helps them sleep better;

regular readers reported fewer feelings of stress and depression than non-readers, and stronger feelings of relaxation from reading than from watching TV or engaging with social media;

reading creates a parallel world in which personal anxieties can recede, while also helping people to realize that the problems they experience are not theirs alone;

a fifth of respondents said reading helped them to feel less lonely;

readers have higher levels of self-esteem and a greater ability to cope with difficult situations.

'Kaitlin
Roig-Debellis is the first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School who
saved her entire class of fifteen six- and-seven-year-olds from the tragic
events that took place on December 14, 2012.

Choosing Hope is a written witness to a tragedy that will never be
forgotten. A gripping firsthand testament to the power of good over the power of
destruction, this inspirational memoir is a story of courage, heroism, faith,
and resilience--a celebration of all the people who make the choice to pass
along their hope and positivity to young ones, be they parents, mentors, or
teachers. There is no moving on, but there is always moving forward. And how we
move forward is a choice.'